High School category, Page 263
After trip to WPIAL final, Chartiers Valley girls lacrosse vows to maintain winning performance
Long postseason runs produce defining moments that teams look back on for years, and for this season’s Chartiers Valley girls lacrosse team, it came down to one goal that was not even meant for the back of the net. After squandering a multi-goal lead to South Fayette in a WPIAL...
Thomas Jefferson’s state softball title capped special season in memory of former coach
The 2024 season is one players and coaches on the Thomas Jefferson softball team will never forget. For the first time in the 65-year history of the high school, there is a state champion at TJ in a girls team sport. Thomas Jefferson ended an improbable postseason run June 13...
Thomas Jefferson baseball team reflects on 2024 season
Thomas Jefferson’s baseball team started out 12-0 this year and ended the regular season with a 17-2 overall record. The Jaguars were ranked No. 2 in Class 4A and received the No. 2 seed for the WPIAL playoffs. After defeating No. 15 Ringgold, 11-3, and No. 7 Chartiers Valley, 4-3,...
Zach Wuenschell, Mia March earn Brentwood’s top senior athletes awards
Zach Wuenschell and Mia March have at least two things in common. The recent high school graduates received top billing at Brentwood after being recognized as the leading senior athletes for the Spartans in 2023-24. Oh yes, both also are 18 years old. Wuenschell was named as the Mark Reider...
Wrapping up the Thomas Jefferson, Baldwin boys volleyball seasons
The Thomas Jefferson boys volleyball team had high expectations and an elevated enthusiasm around the program for the 2024 season. Then, one of the Jaguars’ key starters, 6-foot-7 senior outside hitter William “Will” Stewart, suffered a wrist injury that sent the team scurrying to a lineup change on the eve...
Penn-Trafford soccer goalie Rease Solomon commits to Robert Morris
Rease Solomon will be stopping shots in the Horizon League. The rising senior soccer goalkeeper at Penn-Trafford announced a verbal commitment to Robert Morris. Solomon, a Pittsburgh Riverhounds Academy player, was an all-section performer last season. She allowed 16 goals, made 113 saves and posted six shutouts for the Warriors...
2024 Trib HSSN Head of the Class: Softball Player and Coach of the Year for each classification
This spring, those sitting at head of the softball class had a clear view of so many individual and team standout performances. The season included an unexpected run to the district finals and state gold in 5A, five new district champions and two state winners, along with perfection from a...
2024 Trib HSSN Head of the Class: Baseball Player and Coach of the Year for each classification
This spring, those sitting at head of the baseball class had a chance to see two repeat district champions, an unexpected title run in a marathon WPIAL 3A championship game and another no-hitter in the Class 6A finals. Bishop Canevin won a second straight WPIAL golden crown, while for rival...
Westmoreland H.S. notebook: Latrobe’s Andy Tatsch receives offer from West Virginia
College football recruiting has become a perpetual motion machine in the Tatsch household. First, Latrobe rising senior Alex Tatsch (6-foot-3, 220) became inundated with FBS scholarship offers, welcoming 20 of them before the standout linebacker committed to Penn State. Now Andy Tatsch, his younger brother, is beginning to draw Division...
Tre Cunningham Memorial Tournament brings communities together to honor former Jeannette 3-sport star
In Jeannette, the Tre Cunningham Memorial Basketball Tournament honors the memory of one of the many Jeannette High School standout athletes, and on the fourth anniversary of the annual event, the Cunningham family again was showered with unbridled compassion. How good does that feel? Just ask Steve Cunningham, the father...
Penn-Trafford’s Ian Temple tabbed Tribune-Review Westmoreland Baseball Player of the Year
Player of the Year Ian Temple Senior, Catcher, Penn-Trafford Being strong behind the plate is nothing new at Penn-Trafford. The list of outstanding Warriors catchers goes back to the 1970s, Penn-Trafford coach Lou Cortazzo said. Add Ian Temple to the list. Before Temple was Jakob Haynes, who is playing at...
Springdale’s John Hughes again named Valley News Dispatch Baseball Player of Year
John Hughes had a season to remember at Springdale in 2023, winning the WPIAL batting title to go with 78 strikeouts on the mound. His encore was almost identical. Hughes backed up his junior season by hitting .558 this spring for the Dynamos with three homers, three doubles, two triples...
Ligonier Valley’s Cheyenne Piper selected Tribune-Review Westmoreland Softball Player of the Year
“Fight, fight, fight!” Cheyenne Piper started that chant, and it caught on in the Ligonier Valley dugout. The senior softball pitcher who took the WPIAL by storm this postseason with a rash of no-hitters wants people to remember her for that chorus, for that fight. When Piper was fired up,...
Freeport’s Sydney Selker selected Valley News Dispatch Softball Player of Year
Player of the Year Sydney Selker Freeport, Senior, Pitcher When Sydney Selker was forced to miss the last half of her junior softball season because of injury, thoughts turned forward to this past spring and how she would rebound and be a driving force in getting Freeport back to the...
Eden Christian baseball team primed for bright future
Eden Christian Academy’s baseball team finished as the Class A runner-up in the WPIAL and PIAA this spring. The Warriors, who reached the state finals for the second time in four years, finished 20-6 overall, 5-2 in the postseason and 12-0 in Section 3A. Great things appear to be on...
Fisher’s Files: Reflections on Jerry West and basketball Mt. Rushmore
The death of former NBA great Jerry West prompted some reflection on my part. West, a 12-time All-NBA selection at the guard position, was one of my all-time favorite basketball players. He enjoyed a legendary career both on the court and in the front office, and was well-respected around the...
Eden Christian baseball team reflects on silver season
The Eden Christian Academy baseball program was wrapped in silver this season. Eden finished as the runner-up in both the WPIAL and PIAA playoffs, losing to undefeated Faith Christian, 4-1, in the Class A state championship game June 14 at Penn State. The Warriors, who reached the PIAA finals for...
Pine-Richland soccer coach Wiegand doubles up with girls gig
There’s little doubt Jordan Wiegand loves soccer. So much so that he’s willing to tackle a rare coaching double. Already established as a WPIAL champion boys soccer coach at Pine-Richland, Wiegand now will lead the Rams’ girls program as well. He was hired as girls soccer coach at Pine-Richland’s school...
After 28 years, Hampton boys basketball will have a new coach
For the first time in 28 years, Hampton boys basketball will have a new coach after longtime leader Joe Lafko retired with nearly three decades at Hampton under his belt. Hampton will turn the program over to a former player under Lafko. Joe Cangilla, 35, was a standout basketball and...
Shady Side Academy’s Chelsea Hartman, Fox Chapel’s Rowan Gwin test mettle at New Balance nationals
The strategy for the transition from high school to college track wasn’t going to be one that Shady Side Academy track coach Jeff Perlis wanted Chelsea Hartman to take lightly. Competing at the New Balances Outdoor Nationals was a good first step toward adjusting to Brown University. Hartman competed in...
Bethel Park notebook: Makenzie Wade, Belinda Bova play in softball all-star game
The inaugural Western PA Softball All-Star Game between Team Gold and Team Black took place June 18 at Plum High School. Team Black won the game, 7-4. Many of the WPIAL’s top senior players participated in what was termed “a celebration of the 2024 spring season.” Two girls from Bethel...
Bethel Park baseball continues program’s tradition of deep postseason runs
Bethel Park advanced to the WPIAL Class 5A baseball championship round riding a five-game winning streak and with a 9-2 record in the second half of the regular season. Penn-Trafford, the Black Hawks’ opponent, strung together a 13-game winning streak this season and had won 17 of its last 19...
Riverview’s Lola Abraham selected Gatorade Pennsylvania Girls Soccer Player of the Year
Lola Abraham enjoyed one of the most prolific high school careers in WPIAL girls soccer history, and that included a 2023 senior season when she scored 77 goals and added 20 assists to help lead the Riverview girls soccer team to the WPIAL and PIAA title games. A bevy of...
Josh Shields hopes to stay close to Burrell wrestling program despite departure as coach
When Josh Shields stepped down as Burrell head wrestling coach a couple of weeks ago, he wanted to convey to the returning underclassmen that while he won’t have the same title, he wants to be present to help them reach their goals. “Hopefully, I will be able to volunteer at...
Trib 10: State finalists, champs top final baseball, softball power rankings
Only two district teams won state diamond gold this spring, and both were on the softball field at Penn State. The WPIAL had four teams reach the PIAA softball championship game, and two came home with the gold — Thomas Jefferson in Class 5A and undefeated Neshannock in 2A. Elizabeth...
